Daily NCAA Compliance Tips from Jen Condaras

Daily Compliance Item- 5/7/13- 16.5.2(e)(3)- Summer Expenses

Bo Gee is a golf student-athlete at Ocean State University (OSU). Bo qualified for the NCAA Championships that begin this weekend. OSU’s spring semester ends this Friday, so the summer vacation period will have begun when Bo returns to campus. Bo currently lives in the dorm but will be moving into an off-campus apartment for the summer. The apartment won’t be available until the day after Bo returns from the NCAA tournament. Can OSU provide Bo with housing and meal expenses for the one day until he can move into his apartment?

Yes. NCAA Bylaw 16.5.2(e)(3) states that the institution may provide the cost of room and board to student-athletes (during official institutional vacation periods) in the following circumstances. If an institution does not provide a meal to its student-athletes under such circumstances, a cash allowance may be provided (except for the permissible additional meal as described below), not to exceed the amount provided by the institution to institutional staff members on away-from-campus trips:

student-athletes who return to campus during the institution’s official vacation period between regular academic terms (e.g., summer-vacation period) from institutional competition that occurs at the end of the institution’s playing and practice season or a segment thereof. Under such circumstances, room and board expenses may be provided for not more than a 48-hour period, beginning with the student-athlete’s return to campus. If the student-athlete lives at home during the vacation period, the cost of room and board may not be provided by the institution.